Trial and Triumph | Page 5

are right and I think just such men as you ought to be in the
ministry."
"Are you calling me?" "I wish it were in my power." "I am glad that it
is not, I think there are more in the ministry now than magnify their
calling."
"But Mr. Thomas[2] are you not looking on the dark side of the
question? you must judge of the sun, not by its spots, but by its
brightness."
"Oh I did not mean to say that the ministry is crowded with unworthy
men, who love the fleece more than the flock. I believe that there are in
the ministry a large number who are the salt of the earth and whose life
work bears witness to their fitness. But unfortunately there are men
who seem so lacking in reverence for God, by their free handling of
sacred things; now I think one of the great wants of our people is more
reverence for God who is above us, and respect for the man who is
beside us, and I do hope that our next minister will be a good man, of
active brain, warm heart and Christly sympathies, who will be among
us a living, moral, and spiritual force, and who will be willing to teach
us on the Bible plan of 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a
little there a little.'"
"I hope he will be; it is said that brother Lomax our new minister is an
excellent young man."
"Well I hope that we will not fail to receive him as an apostle and try to
hold up his hands."
"I hope so. I think that to be called of God to be an ambassador for
Christ, to help him build the kingdom of righteousness, love and peace,
amid the misery, sin and strife, is the highest and most blessed position
that a man can hold, and because I esteem the calling so highly I would

not rush into it unless I felt divinely commissioned."

Chapter III
Mrs. Harcourt was a Southern woman by birth, who belonged to that
class of colored people whose freedom consisted chiefly in not being
the chattels of the dominant race--a class to whom little was given and
from whom much was required. She was naturally bright and
intelligent, but had come up in a day when the very book of the
Christian's law was to her a sealed volume; but if she had not been
educated through the aid of school books and blackboards, she had
obtained that culture of manners and behavior which comes through
contact with well-bred people, close observation and a sense of
self-respect and self-reliance, and when deprived of her husband's help
by an untimely death, she took up the burden of life bravely and always
tried to keep up what she called "a stiff upper lip." Feeling the
cramping of Southern life, she became restive under the privations and
indignities which were heaped upon free persons of color, and at length
she and her husband broke up their home and sold out at a pecuniary
sacrifice to come North, where they could breathe free air and have
educational privileges for their children. But while she was strong and
healthy her husband, whose health was not very firm, soon succumbed
to the change of climate and new modes of living and left Mrs.
Harcourt a stranger and widow in a strange land with six children
dependent on her for bread and shelter: but during her short sojourn in
the North[3] she had enlisted the sympathy and respect of kind friends,
who came to her relief and helped her to help herself, the very best
assistance they could bestow upon her. Capable and efficient, she found
no difficulty in getting work for herself and older children, who were
able to add their quota to the support of the family by running errands,
doing odd jobs for the neighbors and helping their mother between
school hours. Nor did she lay all the household burdens on the
shoulders of the girls and leave her boys to the mercy of the pavement;
she tried to make her home happy and taught them all to have a share in
adding to its sunshine. "It makes boys selfish," she would say, "to have
their sisters do all the work and let the boys go scot-free. I don't believe

there would be so many trifling men if the boys were trained to be more
helpful at home and to feel more for their mothers and sisters." All this
was very well for the peace and sunshine of that home, but as the
children advanced in life the question came to her with painful
emphasis----"What can I do for the future of my boys and girls?" She
was